I ask this question 'cos I've just got one. mainly to use with close friends and family, but have gone on cam for some people I've chatted to for a long while.
I'm still being selective with who I'm using it with, but am finding that some of the people I used to have lovely conversations with are turning into strangers, not the reverse, as I'd hoped.

Interested to know some of the positive and negative experiences others have had using cams.

Oh yea.. It becomes much more dramatic as you can't touch what you see.

On a serious note though... I think cams are alrite, it's the mic I'm scared of. Over the time I have learnt that a phone conversation is much more intimate than a cam view.
As for the cams... If they ever changed a relationship between me and another person, 90% of the changes have been positive. Could as well be due to the fact that my expressions usually look like this:

i dont use mine as much as i used to now i've stopped spanking the monkey, ...was making me cross eyed

Thanks for that considered opinion Jim. Can never have enough masturbation jokes

I've found that people are reluctant to use the cams, and do sometimes go quiet when they are on. I don't know if thats just because of shy people though.

It has not impacted those relationships as a whole, however.

Haha!! Monkeys indeed........found myself talking to a crowd in an Egyptian internet cafe last night, but they were all ok.

i was thinking of getting a web cam myself but i am kinda cam shy but think once i get started i'll be fine